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Topic Review (Newest First)

03-18-2013 07:20 PM

Chulios66

I rarely buy fish from petsmart unless I feel sorry for them. Right now, their is a fish with a deformed tail and no one has bought it yet even though its been their for over a month. Planning on giving it a better home on Saturday.

03-18-2013 07:07 PM

gSTiTcH

Slow and steady, my friend. Adding that much fish at once to a system is bad bad news. You're asking for marathon performance from your biofilter when it's used to leisurely strolls to the corner market.

03-18-2013 04:32 PM

pelicanincident

1ppm of ammonia is bad bad bad. That is definitely your problem. Might not have enough beneficial bacteria to handle your bioload, meaning your BB cannot keep up with the amount of ammo being produced by your fish.

03-18-2013 03:25 AM

ccbeauch

lol thanks! I just needed you a little sooner... lol, I have had the same 6 since then all doing great with beautiful color. (they sneek the stray blood worms from the discus). I did wake up one morning and my group went from 7 to 6 with no sign of a body?! I was guessing one discus had a midnight snack...

10-12-2012 12:01 PM

jtfromcharlotte

Cardinals are generally wild caught. This can make them very sensitive to anything but ideal conditions. Don't be surprised if you end up losing half or more. How big is your tank? Unless it's 100+ gallons, adding 18 all at once is also not smart.

10-08-2012 03:35 AM

ccbeauch

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmagerl

Are you running CO2? I had horrible cardinal loses with CO2. I learned that I had to turn off the CO2 the day before introducing cardinals to let the tank outgas, then turn it back on a day later after adding the cardinals.

No losses after doing that.

Hmmm. I do have a CO2 diffuser but I don't think it really works anyway cus it is stuck behind the foxtail. I do dose with excell so that might be the problem. Thanks for that idea.

10-08-2012 03:32 AM

ccbeauch

Quote:

Originally Posted by jake

When I first tried cardinals, I had them drop like flies. I got them right off the truck, special order at the lfs. I talked to an old-timer hobbyist who told me to feed them baby brine shrimp, preferably live, but frozen would do.

I tried them again, same lfs, feeding frozen bbs starting the second day, and had no losses.

That was just my experience.

Sent from my nerd device.

I've been feeding the discus frozen brine shrimp and sometimes the Cardinals grab one. Same with the blood worms that I give them. This was my first try so maybe next time I'll do a quar. tank and try harder not to kill them.

10-08-2012 03:28 AM

dmagerl

Are you running CO2? I had horrible cardinal loses with CO2. I learned that I had to turn off the CO2 the day before introducing cardinals to let the tank outgas, then turn it back on a day later after adding the cardinals.

No losses after doing that.

10-08-2012 03:26 AM

ccbeauch

I'm going to go and say the ammonia is probably due to the 6 Cardinals sitting in the little container on the ride over to petsmart. The reading is at 0ppm when I take it directly from my tank. Forgot to mention that in the earlier post about that difference.

10-08-2012 02:28 AM

shrimpedout

Why do you still have ammonia in your tank, especially with expensive fish like Discus?

---
Get shrimped out!

10-08-2012 02:20 AM

jake

When I first tried cardinals, I had them drop like flies. I got them right off the truck, special order at the lfs. I talked to an old-timer hobbyist who told me to feed them baby brine shrimp, preferably live, but frozen would do.

I tried them again, same lfs, feeding frozen bbs starting the second day, and had no losses.

That was just my experience.

Sent from my nerd device.

10-07-2012 11:24 PM

wendyjo

If you have an ammonia reading in your tank then that's probably part of the problem. A cycled tank should have 0 ammonia reading and I can't believe the Petsmart employee said the tank was perfect.

10-07-2012 10:10 PM

ccbeauch

okay thanks. I already have a 20 long under my tank built into the stand from the guy I got it all from. He had a marine tank and that was his filter. Seeing as how he glued the stand together I just left it in there. Didn't want to smash the tank apart to get it out. I kinda thought one day I'd have a use for it. I already have a filter and heater so the tank just needs some water, clown puke, and cycling for the next time I decide to get some fish. I think because 4 have been in my main tank for 9 days and the survivng 3 for 2 days as well that it is a lost cause this time and hoping for the best is my only option. I was thinking about returning the living 7 but they all look so healthy that I think they can stay.

What do you all think about that?

10-07-2012 09:31 PM

kevmo911

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccbeauch

btw, thanks for all the advice and help. ohh and the two plecos don't care one way or the other about the Cardinals and same for them.

In my experience, bottom feeders tend to have more impressive immune systems than column fish.

Cycling the new quarantine tank isn't absolutely necessary, but you'll have to watch ammonia and start doing daily water changes after the first couple days. You can also take some of your filter media and either throw it into a new tank to jumpstart cycling, ideally inside a filter. You can use the 20g, or buy a 10g for $20 or so at your PetSmart. Hopefully you have a spare filter? If not, a cheapie will work fine.

At this point, not sure using a quarantine tank will do any good. You might want to wait it out and hope for the best.

I have a 10g that sits on my kitchen counter for QT. No stand necessary, and I keep disposable plants (some moss and ferns) in it, as well as a few BA tetras, which aren't terribly plant friendly. It's got the stock hood, with mini CFL's replacing the incandescents that came with it, and a couple small filters. Anyway, I keep a few things in the tank to give it some charm (heh), and I'm not going to cry over anything I normally keep in there. All new fish go into it for a month, unless there's a death, and then the month cycle restarts. It's probably a total $50 investment. That's one easy route you could go.

10-07-2012 09:18 PM

ccbeauch

btw, thanks for all the advice and help. ohh and the two plecos don't care one way or the other about the Cardinals and same for them.

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